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Euthyphro
Euthyphro ( ) ( , "Euthuphron": right-minded or sincere;http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=euqu%2Ffrwn&la=greek) is one of Plato's early dialogues, dated to after 399 BC. Taking place during the weeks leading up to Socrates' trial, the dialogue features Socrates and Euthyphro, a man known for claiming to be a religious expert. They attempt to pinpoint a definition for piety. The dialogue is set near the king-archon's court, where the two men encounter each other. They are both there for preliminary hearings before possible trials (2a). Euthyphro has come to lay manslaughter charges against his father, as his father had allowed one of his workers to die exposed to the elements without proper care and attention (3e–4d). This worker had killed a slave belonging to the family estate on the island of Naxos; while Euthyphro's father waited to hear from the expounders of religious law (exegetes cf. Laws 759d) about how to proceed, the worker died bound and gagged in a ditch. in Shimerian context Since at least the Waukegan period, the Euthyphro has been the usual text assigned in the introductory discussion during student orientation. Mentioned *by Yael Grauer, "my first year at Shimer--journal entries", shimercollege.blogspot.com, 2007-11-12: *:This is the real thing. ppl here have children, are married, have arrest records. the plato (euthyphro) sem. class rocked. *by Kieran Kelley, "Cue the Supertramp Record", blog.shimer.edu, 2009-09-10: *:Flashing forward half a year to my first class as an official full-time Shimer student, we are discussing none other than Socrates’ dialogue with Euthyphro. And we’ve just raised the question of the pragmatism of the Socratic method; as my classmate Ben succinctly put it, “Why hit the forms?” Will we really live a better life through constant self-examination, or will we just descend into endless navel-gazing, lost in Daedalus’ labyrinth? At some point, someone’s just gonna have to take out the trash because it stinks, without first finding the true nature of either stinkness or trashiness. It doesn’t seem that we can live in a world without absolutes, and yet it doesn’t seem that we can ever reach those absolutes. *by Eileen Buchanan, "Integrative Studies 5: Weekend Program" (syllabus), shimer.edu, Fall 2009: *:One result of engaging in the Great Conversation is that we will all become clearer about our own assumptions and beliefs as we encounter those of others. This process, as Euthyphro discovered, can be painful, so we need to treat each other and ourselves with respect and give each other careful listening, genuine questioning, and thoughtful response. (...more...) *by "Sam", "Shimer Discussion", jadedjive.blogspot.com, 2011-06-25: *:Our discussion concluded that Plato was telling us how we sometimes conclude and judge too quickly. He taught us this by contrasting Euthyphro with Socrates. Socrates never made a conclusion, never made a stance. He asked questions, which took apart Euthyphro's arguments and made him seem rather foolish. Euthyphro just seemed to agree with Socrates and then when needed, he threw out an answer, which made him seem very impetuous. And we all seemed to agree to disagree with him. But we also concluded that we could not disagree. (...more...) References Further reading */Text *wikipedia:Euthyphro *Jowett translation on ICA Category:Plato * has version::Greek has version::Jowett has version::Fowler has version::Translation